KR20220062523A - Method and system for automatic alignment of displays - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods, media, and systems are provided for automatically aligning the display of a head/helmet mounted display. Methods, media and systems may provide for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear, or helmet. Methods, media, and systems may provide a first sensor mounted on a user's helmet and configured to communicate and align transmission with a vehicle comprising an inertial navigation system (INS). Methods, media, and systems can provide a display comprising a second sensor configured to communicate with a first sensor and transmit alignment the second sensor with the first sensor based on a transmission alignment of the first sensor with the vehicle. Methods, media and systems may provide that the first sensor and the second sensor include an inertial measurement unit (IMU). Additionally, the methods, media and systems may also provide for alignment of two displays on the head/helmet relative to each other in real time.

Description

Method and system for automatic alignment of displays

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/886,778, filed August 14, 2019, and U.S. Non-Provisional Patent Application No. 16/992,788, filed August 13, 2020 . The content of the prior application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to auto-alignment of displays, such as those used in, for example, head- or helmet-mounted displays (HMDs).

Alignment or realignment of a display, e.g., an HMD (referred to interchangeably herein as tracker-to-display alignment or realignment) is challenging when the display is moved/adjusted by the user accidentally or intentionally . For example, it is difficult to efficiently and/or inexpensively align or realign a pilot's or user's HMD during flight of an aircraft, vehicle, or during a mission or activity.

In order to properly display correctly positioned symbols on the HMD, it is necessary to know the alignment of the HMD within the head/helmet frame of reference. However, a problem with some types of HMDs is that the alignment of the HMD with the head/helmet cannot be determined prior to use and may change during use. For example, in some systems the display is placed within the field of view of a night vision goggles (NVG). The mounting of the NVG can generally be positioned at various angles relative to the head/helmet and can be repositioned from time to time by the user, leading to unpredictable changes in the HMD alignment gaze. In addition to NVGs, there are other types of HMDs that clip to the headband, headgear or helmet and/or allow the user to adjust physical alignment, again leading to unpredictable alignment of the display with the head/helmet reference frame.

One related technical approach for calculating HMD alignment is to aim the HMD at the vehicle/aircraft. Aiming to an aircraft generally involves aligning an aiming indication displayed on an HMD to a reticle displayed on a Head-Up Display (HUD) or Boresight Reference Unit (BRU). In general, the aiming procedure is performed by the user at the start of the flight and may be repeated several times during the flight. It is important that the aiming is accurate, otherwise the HMD may present erroneous or misleading (ie misplaced) information to the user.

One method for aiming requires the user to align the HMD symbols on the aircraft/vehicle mounted BRU or HUD simultaneously in three axes: azimuth, elevation and roll. The BRU or HUD displays a collimated image of a cross or some other type of reticle (ie, the cross of a rifle scope). A reticle is generally constructed with a fiducial extending horizontally or vertically, such as a cross, to provide elevation, azimuth and roll relative to the centerline of the vehicle or aircraft. The user is typically required to align the first symbol projected on the HMD to the line of sight to the intersection of the BRU/HUD marked cross/reticle. Once the HMD symbol is aligned with the BRU/HUD cross/reticle, the user wearing the HMD engages the button. In some cases, fine alignment may be implemented where the HMD indicator symbol is the referenced aircraft/vehicle, and the user can then rotate the symbol to overlay it on the BRU/HUD crosshair/reticle. Although this sorting process can be considered a relatively easy and straightforward operation, it takes time. Additionally, the user of the HMD may introduce errors into the overall HMD accuracy by not paying attention to precisely aligning the HMD crosshairs to the BRU/HMD reticle. For binocular HMDs with two displays, both of which require alignment, this alignment process can still be implemented by the user of the aircraft/vehicle, but can be tedious and error-prone.

Aircraft, and particularly rotorcraft, are subject to movement and vibrations prior to takeoff during flight and also during engine operation. These movements and vibrations inhibit the aircraft occupant's ability to make the small head movements necessary for successful alignment. Even in the absence of aircraft movements and vibrations, it is not easy to perform the necessary fine head movements.

Another method for tracker-display alignment is to mount the tracker and display to a rigid mechanical structure with tight tolerances. Once the structure is loaded into both the tracker and the display, a calibration procedure is used to precisely measure the position of the display and the position of the tracker. With this information, symbols can be properly placed on the HMD. One disadvantage of this method is that accurate alignment of the tracker and display adds significant cost to the overall design cost. Additionally, expensive manufacturing and calibration equipment is also required. Additionally, the headband, headgear or helmet must accommodate the entire human anthropometric range to place the user's eyes in front of the display.

Additionally, in particular binocular (ie, two separate displays in which each eye sees a separate and separate image) or biocular (ie, two separate displays in which each eye sees the same image). ) The relative alignment of the display-to-display in the HMD may cause problems. In the horizontal direction, the convergence point determines the binocular viewing distance. It is intended that a symbol, icon or image overlay an object of interest at a desired distance. Therefore, the horizontal alignment must be within acceptable tolerance values and not exceed optical infinity. In the vertical direction, the displayed symbol, icon or image must not exceed a certain angle regardless of the viewing distance. Additionally, the ability to adjust the horizontal convergence angle to a desired viewing distance in real time is desirable, but must be done accurately in both vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, relative display-to-display alignment is very important to ensure that when the pilot or user is viewing the image, doing so does not cause double vision or eye strain. One way is to mount the displays on a rigid structure that prevents them from moving relative to each other during flight or missions.

There remains an unmet need for an efficient and cost effective method and system for automatically aligning HMDs within a frame of reference without the need for a robust structure or aircraft/vehicle mounted BRU/HUD.

Aspects of design, development, and testing of systems and methods for automatic alignment of displays are described herein in light of the problems described above and unmet needs and others. Among other things, these aspects may be used, for example, for aircraft HMDs, land vehicle HMDs, and the like, including monocular or binocular displays for users.

In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method, computer-readable medium, and system for automatic alignment of a display are provided. Methods, media and systems may provide for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear, or helmet. Additionally, the methods, media, and systems can provide a first sensor mounted on a headband, headgear, or helmet and configured to communicate and align with a vehicle. If the vehicle has an inertial navigation or measurement system the alignment to the vehicle may be implemented using transfer alignment. Additionally, the methods, media, and systems can provide a display comprising a second sensor in communication with the first sensor and configured to transmit and align the second sensor with the first sensor. Additionally, the first sensor may then be aligned to the vehicle or may have been aligned to the vehicle prior to alignment to the second sensor. Also, the methods, media, and systems may further provide that the first sensor and the second sensor include an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

The methods, media, and systems may also include a third sensor capable of providing first and second displays on the HMD and capable of transmitting alignment with the first and second sensors. The first sensor may then be aligned with the vehicle or may have been aligned with the vehicle prior to alignment with the second and third sensors. Additionally, the methods, media and systems may provide that the first, second and third sensors include an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

Additional advantages and novel features of these aspects will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the following or learning from practice of the present disclosure.

Various illustrative aspects of the systems and methods will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.
1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system for automatic alignment of a display in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
2 is an exemplary implementation of a system for automatic alignment of a display in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
3 is an exemplary flow diagram of a method for automatic alignment of a display in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
4 presents an exemplary system diagram of various hardware components and other features for use in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
5 is a block diagram illustrating various exemplary system components for use in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring these concepts.

Several aspects of a motion tracking system will now be presented with reference to various devices and methods. These apparatus and methods will be described in the detailed description that follows and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of various blocks, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as “elements”). These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic , discrete hardware circuitry and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. One or more processors of the processing system may execute software. Software, whether or not referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, etc., is an instruction, instruction set, code, code segment, program code, program, subprogram, software component, application, software It should be construed broadly to include applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, and the like.

Accordingly, in one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. For example, and without limitation, such computer readable media may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (ROM), and EEPROM), Compact Disk ROM (CD-ROM), or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures. and may include any other medium that can be accessed by a computer. As used herein, disk and disk include CD, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk (DVD) and floppy disk, where disk generally magnetically stores data. On the other hand, a disc uses a laser to optically reproduce data. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Accordingly, in one or more aspects, the functionality described below may be implemented with either an HMD or a Head-Worn Display (“HWD”). Additionally, these terms may also be used interchangeably with the phrase "video display for user/pilot".

HMDs often require precise orientation alignment between the helmet/head tracker and the respective display to allow accurate calculation of the gaze position from the user to properly draw/present/present graphics on the display. Additionally, in the case of a binocular display, the two displays are designed so that the gaze from the user's eyes to a single point projected onto the two displays is parallaxed accurately enough not to cause eye strain and thus not negatively affect user performance. must be aligned with each other. In other aspects of the present disclosure, it is often very important that the tracker-display and display-display alignment be maintained over the course of the entire mission.

1 , illustrated is a representative diagram of various features of an exemplary automatic alignment of a display system 100 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. System 100 may include dual displays 102a, 102b positioned separately for the user's right and left eyes. Displays 102a and 102b may together be referred to as binocular system 102 , where interchangeably referenced to display system 102 . The binocular system 102 may be mounted to a helmet 104 .

In one aspect of the disclosure, the displays 102a , 102b may be see-through HMDs in which the image is nominally collimated and verged to infinity. The two displays together provide a binocular display system 102 for the user. When using the binocular system 102, the relative binocular alignment should be maintained not to diverge (ie, more than parallel to each other), and maintained within an angle of convergence of 5 to 10 arcminutes for infinity or the desired convergence distance. should be In the vertical direction, the binocular alignment between the two displays should not exceed 3 to 6 arc minutes. For example, if the HMDs 102a , 102b of the binocular system 102 are out of alignment by more than these exemplary values in the vertical or horizontal direction, the user may experience diplopia, eye strain, headache, and blurred vision when using the HMD. You may experience the same side effects.

Displays 102a, 102b may also include and/or be coupled to inertial measurement units (IMUs) 108a, 108b, respectively, respectively. The helmet 104 may also include a tracker 106 . The tracker 106 may include, for example, a hybrid optical based inertial tracker (HObIT), which is described in more detail below. The tracker 106 may also include an IMU 112 . The IMU included in the helmet 104 can be, for example, a NavChip ^™ IMU that is a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based high precision IMU and manufactured by Thales Visionix® of Clarksburg, MD. there is.

In one example implementation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, the tracker 106 may be electrically coupled via a transfer wire 110 to a display system 102 that includes displays 102a and/or 102b. In another aspect of the present disclosure, the display system 102 including the displays 102a and/or 102b may also be electrically connected via a helmet-vehicle interface (HVI) 114 of an aircraft or other vehicle. can In another aspect of the present disclosure, the display system 102 including the tracker 106 and the displays 102a and/or 102b may be electrically connected to an aircraft or other vehicle via a helmet-vehicle interface (HVI) 114 . there is. In another aspect of the present disclosure, each display 102a , 102b of the binocular system 102 may be configured to communicate with each other. As an alternative to the electrical connections described above with reference to FIG. 1 , in some implementations, the various components may be coupled to each other wirelessly, optically, or otherwise.

A control unit and an image generator (not shown) may receive tracking data regarding the HMD and communicate the generated image to the HMD via HVI 114 as further described below. The control unit may also provide input from mission computers of the vehicle and/or aircraft, including, for example, data from the aircraft Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS) and symbol data. can receive Helmet 104 with tracker 106 , and display system 102 may communicate with a control unit, such as a cockpit mounted control unit, via HVI 114 , for example.

As discussed further below, in one aspect of the disclosure, the tracker 106 and the display system 102 may be aligned with each other, and the alignment is maintained throughout the operation of automatic alignment of the display system 100 . . As discussed further below, in another aspect of the disclosure, display 102a and display 102b can be aligned with respect to each other, and the alignment is maintained throughout the operation of automatic alignment of display system 100 . can be Any error in alignment between the display system 102 and the tracker 106 will result in a loss of position in the positioning of the symbols on the display 102a and/or the display 102b for proper registration with the outside world. This can lead directly to errors. Additionally, any misalignment between the display 102a and the display 102b may cause the display 102a and/or the display 102a and/or the display 102b for proper registration with each other or with the outside world, which may cause eye fatigue to the pilot or user. This can directly lead to errors in positioning the symbols on the display 102b.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , illustrated is a representative diagram of an exemplary implementation of various features of a system for automatic alignment of a display, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a fighter cockpit area of an aircraft 500 in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect of the present disclosure, it is often desirable to draw/display/present an icon or symbol on a display along the line of sight from the user's eye to the object in the world so that the icon overlaps the object in the user's field of view. In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary coordinate axis associated with displaying an object or symbol representing an object on an HMD. The position of the object may be known in the terrestrial coordinate system (i) 512 . The platform inertial navigation system (INS) may monitor its position and orientation (pose) with respect to the coordinate system (i), thereby allowing object coordinates to be transformed into the platform coordinate system (p) 504 . can As illustrated in FIG. 2 , a reference constellation 510 may be mounted on a canopy 502 and may have a coordinate system n, and its posture relative to coordinate system p converts object coordinates from coordinate system p to coordinate system. It can be calibrated and used to transform into (n). The tracker 508 ( 106 in FIG. 1 ) may have a body coordinate system b and monitor its posture relative to a reference constellation, thereby monitoring the transformation of object coordinates from coordinate system n to coordinate system b. can allow Additionally, the display(s) 506 ( 102a and/or 102b in FIG. 1 ) may define a coordinate system d. In this example, the combination of transformations may allow the object's position to be transformed from ground coordinates (i) to tracker body coordinates (b). In order to determine where the gaze on the object intersects the display in the coordinate system d, it may be necessary to know the eye and object positions in the coordinate system d. Thus, the eye position in coordinate system d can be measured or established simply by measuring the position for one user assuming a similar head geometry for all potential users. The object position is known in the coordinate system (b). As will be described below, one aspect of the present disclosure is the automatic alignment of coordinate systems (b) and (d), ie, the coordinates of an object in coordinate system (d), these two coordinate systems by which they can be transformed into coordinate system (b). It relates to the calculation of the conversion between. Various aspects of the use of the reference constellation 510 are discussed throughout U.S. Patent No. 10,212,355, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, although only one display 506 is illustrated in FIG. 2 , any suitable number of displays may be present. For example, there may be two displays in a binocular system. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, Table 1 lists the five associated coordinate frames referenced above.

i-frame The i-frame is an inertial frame of reference, and may be, for example, a local-level North-East-Down (NED) frame on the ground below an aircraft that rotates slowly enough to be considered an inertial frame. p-frame Aircraft "Platform INS" frame. "Platform INS" is an inertial navigation system that feeds attitude data to a mission computer (MC), which in turn feeds the automatic alignment of the display system. n-frame Reference frame of the tracking system. In the case of a magnetic tracker, the n-frame may have an axis and origin that are nominally aligned with the source coil assembly, for example. In one example, the n-frame may have an origin at one of the fiducials and that axis may be approximately aligned with the aircraft axis during the ground conditioning procedure. b-frame The tracker's body frame. In one example, the b-frame may be defined by a NavChip ^™ IMU inside the tracker as described above, which may for example be mounted upside down, back and/or tilted relative to a helmet. d-frame The display frame of each display. In one example, the d-frame may be defined by a NavChip ^™ IMU inside each display as described above, which may for example be mounted upside down, back and/or tilted relative to a helmet.

As described above with reference to FIG. 1 , the IMUs 112 , 108a and 108b of the tracker 106 , display 102a , and display 102b, respectively, are oriented relative to each other, as described in more detail below. It can provide continuous measurement of

Referring now to FIG. 3 , shown is an exemplary flow diagram of a method for automatic alignment of a display in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Specifically, a flowchart 300 is shown for automatic alignment of a display by using a transfer alignment method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

및

로서 근사화될 수 있고, 연결 방정식은 Rdb*[wb]x*Rdb^T = [wd]x 로 축소되고, 여기서 wb 및 wd는 회전 벡터로 표현된 작은 회전이다. 동등하게는, [Rdb*wb]x = [wd]x 이고 따라서 Rdb*wb = wd 이다. Rdb는 고정이기 때문에, 여러 개의 측정 쌍(wb,wd)이 행렬 방정식 Rdb*Wb = Wd 에 연결될 수 있고 Rdb는 최소 제곱(least squares) 또는 다른 노이즈-저항 방법(noise-resistant methods)으로 구해질 수 있다. 측정 값이 고정된, 가산 편향(fixed, additive biases)(bb,bd)을 갖는 경우, 방정식은 [Rdb, Rdb*bb-db]*[wb;1] = wd 가 되고, 이는 또한 Rdb를 결정하기 위해 최소 제곱 또는 다른 노이즈-저항 방법으로 풀이될 수 있다. 이 접근 방식은 두 디스플레이(도 1, 108b 및 108b로 도시된 바와 같음)의 IMU 사이, 또는 디스플레이와 트래커 사이(개별적으로 도 1, 108a 또는 108b 및 112로 도시된 바와 같음), 또는 트래커와 이의 IMU 사이(개별적으로 도 1, 106 및 112로 도시된 바와 같음)의 회전을 결정하기에 충분할 수 있다. 트래커-IMU 정렬(tracker-to-IMU alignment)은 트래커가 어떤 좌표계에서 자신의 배향(정렬)을 모니터링함에 따라, 새롭게 계산된 Rdb가 IMU의 배향 또는 IMU"로의 전달 정렬"을 계산하는 데 사용될 수 있다. 유사한 프로세스가 또한 두 IMU/트래커 사이의 이동(translation)을 결정할 수도 있다.In one aspect of the present disclosure, transfer alignment may be defined as the process of determining a transformation between two coordinate systems such that a position in one coordinate system can be transformed into an equivalent position in another coordinate system. Forward alignment may, for example, operate roughly as follows. Two navigation devices can be mounted to each other via fixed but unknown transformations (movement and rotation). For example, a missile mounted on an aircraft, a tracker mounted on an IMU (as shown in FIGS. 1 , 112 ) (as shown in FIGS. 1 , 106 ) or a tracker and display on an HMD ( FIGS. 2 , 506 and 508 ). as shown). 2 , the display 506 may have a coordinate frame d, and the tracker IMU 508 may have a coordinate frame b. Display 506 and tracker IMU 508 may be physically mounted and thus may undergo the same rotation over time, but each measure rotation in its own coordinate frame as rotation matrices Rd and Rb. By defining the (unknown but fixed) rotation between frames as Rdb, the physical connection can be expressed as Rdb*Rb*Rdb ^T = Rd . For example, if the rotation is very small, eg because it is measured over a short period of time, they are individually

and

, the linkage equation is reduced to Rdb*[wb]x*Rdb ^T = [wd]x, where wb and wd are small rotations expressed as rotation vectors. Equivalently, [Rdb*wb]x = [wd]x and thus Rdb*wb = wd. Since Rdb is fixed, several pairs of measurements (wb,wd) can be connected to the matrix equation Rdb*Wb = Wd and Rdb can be obtained with least squares or other noise-resistant methods. can If the measurements have fixed, additive biases (bb,bd), the equation becomes [Rdb, Rdb*bb-db]*[wb;1] = wd, which also determines Rdb can be solved by least squares or other noise-resistance methods to This approach can be performed between the IMUs of two displays (as shown in FIGS. 1 , 108b and 108b), or between a display and a tracker (as shown in FIGS. 1 , 108a or 108b and 112 individually), or between a tracker and its It may be sufficient to determine rotation between the IMUs (as shown in FIGS. 1 , 106 and 112 individually). Tracker-to-IMU alignment allows the tracker to monitor its orientation (alignment) in some coordinate system, so that the newly computed Rdb can be used to calculate the IMU's orientation or "pass-to-IMU alignment". there is. A similar process may also determine translation between two IMUs/trackers.

At block 302 , the method 300 may include initializing a system (eg, system 100 of FIG. 1 ). The initialization process may include powering on the system, such as, for example, turning on the aircraft and helmet 104 with the aircraft's INS to obtain the necessary data regarding location and the like.

At block 304 , the method 300 may include a tracker (eg, tracker 106 of FIG. 1 ), wherein the tracker IMU (eg, IMU 112 of FIG. 1 ) aligns delivery with the INS of the aircraft. may include In one aspect of the present disclosure, as described above, the tracker may also utilize fiducial constellations, eg, mounted to the canopy of an aircraft for further alignment. In other aspects of the present disclosure, alignment between the tracker 106 and the aircraft may occur automatically, for example, without interaction from a user. At block 304 , the delivery alignment method may also include the use of gravity to align a tracker (eg, tracker 106 of FIG. 1 ) to the aircraft.

At block 306 , the method 300 converts each display (eg, displays 102a and 102b of FIG. 1 ) to a display IMU (eg, IMUs 108a and 108b of FIG. 1 ) to a tracker IMU (eg, FIG. 1 ). 1's IMU 112]. Such transfer alignment of the display system 102 relative to the tracker 106 may provide, for example, accurate orientation alignment of each display 102a and 102b relative to the tracker 106 . The delivery alignment process may run in the background during normal operation and may not be visible to the user. The use of the transfer alignment method avoids, among other advantages, the cost of rigid mechanical alignment and installing the aiming reference unit for each seat in the valuable space of the aircraft cockpit. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the display IMUs 108a , 108b may deliver delivery alignment relative to each other in addition to or instead of delivery alignment with the tracker IMU 112 .

At block 308 , along a line as described above, the method may include aligning the tracker and display IMUs (eg, IMUs 112 , 108a , 108b of FIG. 1 ) for continuous or frequent delivery. Upon movement of the aircraft, the tracker and display IMUs 112 , 108a and 108b may be aligned within one hundredth of a degree.

At block 309 , transfer alignment between display IMUs 112 , 108a , 108b is complete.

At block 310 , the method may include misaligning at least one of the displays (eg, 102a and 102b in FIG. 1 ) and/or at least one of the tracker or display IMU. Such misalignment may be due, for example, to the helmet 104 being dropped and/or repositioned by the user, the display being intentionally or inadvertently brought out of the user's eye, or due to simple vibration of the aircraft, etc. can happen As described above, based on the rate of transmission alignment between the tracker and the display IMUs 112, 108a, 108b and the INS of the aircraft associated with the reference constellation, the displays 102a and 102b automatically move to their respective new positions. can be rearranged as

4 presents an exemplary system diagram of various hardware components and other features for use in accordance with aspects presented herein. Aspects may be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In one example, an aspect is one or more computers capable of performing the functions described herein, such as with respect to one or more of an IMU, display, INS, and/or related processing within other components of the helmet of FIGS. system may be included. An example of such a computer system 900 is shown in FIG. 4 .

Computer system 900 includes one or more processors, such as processor 904 . The processor 904 may correspond to the IMU described with respect to automatic alignment of the display system 100 . The processor 904 is coupled to a communications infrastructure 906 (eg, a communications bus, crossover bar, or network). Various software aspects are described in connection with this exemplary computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement aspects presented herein using other computer systems and/or architectures.

Computer system 900 may include a display interface 902 that communicates graphics, text, and other data from communication infrastructure 906 (or from a frame buffer, not shown) for display on display unit 930 . . Computer system 900 also includes main memory 908 , preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include secondary memory 910 . Secondary memory 910 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 912 and/or a removable storage drive 914 representing a floppy disk drive, magnetic tape drive, optical disk drive, or the like. Removable storage drive 914 reads and/or writes from removable storage unit 918 in a well known manner. Removable storage unit 918 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. that are read and written to by removable storage drive 914 . As will be appreciated, removable storage unit 918 includes computer usable storage media having computer software and/or data stored therein.

In an alternative aspect, auxiliary memory 910 may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system 900 . Such a device may include, for example, a removable storage unit 922 and an interface 920 . Examples of such devices include program cartridges and cartridge interfaces (such as those found in video game devices), removable memory chips (erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or programmable read-only memory (PROM)) and related sockets, and other removable storage units 922 and interfaces 920 that allow software and data to be transferred from removable storage unit 922 to computer system 900 .

Computer system 900 may also include a communication interface 924 . Communication interface 924 allows software and data to be transferred between computer system 900 and external devices. Examples of communication interfaces 924 may include modems, network interfaces (such as Ethernet cards), communication ports, Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slots and cards, and the like. Software and data communicated via communication interface 924 are in the form of signals 928 , which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals that may be received by communication interface 924 . These signals 929 are provided to the communication interface 924 via a communication path (eg, channel) 926 . This path 926 carries the signal 929 and may be implemented using wires or cables, fiber optics, telephone lines, cellular links, radio frequency (RF) links, and/or other communication channels. In this document, the terms "computer program medium" and "computer usable medium" refer to media such as removable storage drive 914 , a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 912 , and signal 929 as a whole. used to These computer program products provide software to the computer system 900 . Aspects presented herein may include such computer program products.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in main memory 908 and/or secondary memory 910 . The computer program may also be received via communication interface 924 . Such computer programs, when executed, may enable computer system 900 to perform features presented herein as discussed herein. In particular, the computer program, when executed, causes the processor 904 to perform the features presented herein. Accordingly, such a computer program represents the controller of the computer system 900 .

In aspects implemented using software, the software is stored in a computer program product and stored in a computer system using an interface 920 to a removable storage drive 914 , a hard drive 912 , or a removable storage unit 922 . It can be loaded at 900 . Control logic (software), when executed by processor 904 , causes processor 904 to perform functions as described herein. In another example, aspects may be implemented primarily in hardware using hardware components such as, for example, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of a hardware state machine to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s).

In another example, aspects presented herein may be implemented using a combination of both hardware and software.

5 illustrates a block diagram of various example system components that may be used in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. System 1000 includes one or more accessors 1060, 1062 (also referred to herein interchangeably as one or more “users” such as pilots) and one or more terminals 1042, 1066 within an entire aircraft or other vehicle network ( Such terminals may include, for example, an IMU, a display, various features of the INS, and/or related processing within other components within the helmet of FIGS. 1-3 ). In one aspect, data for use in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure may be, for example, a symbol, an IMU, a display, an INS, and/or associated processing within other components of the helmet of FIGS. 1-3 , and/or a processor and a data store and/or other device having a connection to the data store via a network 1044 and coupling 1045, 1046, 1064, such as, for example, the Internet, an intranet and/or an aircraft communication system; It is entered and/or accessed by accessors 1060 and 1062 via terminals 1042 and 1066 coupled to 1043 . Couplings 1045 , 1046 , 1064 include, for example, wired, wireless or fiber optic links. In another exemplary variant, methods and systems according to aspects of the present disclosure operate in a standalone environment, such as on a single terminal.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” that includes one or more processors. Examples of processors include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware circuits, and are described throughout this disclosure. and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions provided. One or more processors of the processing system may execute software. Software, whether or not referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, etc., is an instruction, instruction set, code, code segment, program code, program, subprogram, software component, application program, software application program, software It should be construed broadly to include packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, and the like.

Accordingly, in one or more exemplary variations, the functions described above may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded in a computer-readable medium or media as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. For example, and without limitation, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disks and discs as used herein include CDs, laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), and floppy disks, where disks generally reproduce data magnetically. On the other hand, a disk optically reproduces data with a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

Although the aspects described herein have been described in connection with the exemplary aspects outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements and/or substantial equivalents known, presently unpredictable or unpredictable exist in the art at least in the art. It will become clear to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the exemplary aspects described above are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, this disclosure is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements and/or substantial equivalents known or later developed.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the process/flow diagrams disclosed is illustrative of an exemplary approach. It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the process/flow diagram may be rearranged based on design preferences. Also, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The appended method claims present the elements of the various blocks in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The previous disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Accordingly, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein reference to an element in the singular "one" unless specifically so specifically indicated. and "one or more" rather than "only one." The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an illustration, example, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C”, “at least one of A, B and C” and “A, B, C or any combination thereof” refer to any of A, B, and/or C , and may include multiples of A, multiples of B, or multiples of C. Specifically, combinations such as "at least one of A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C," and "A, B, C, or any combination thereof" are A alone, B alone , C alone, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C, wherein the combination may include one or more members or members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure, known or later known to those of ordinary skill in the art, are expressly intended to be incorporated herein by reference and to be encompassed by the claims. do. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in a claim. No claim element shall be construed as means plus function unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "means for".

Claims (14)

A device for automatic alignment of a component of a headband, headgear or helmet, the device comprising:
a first sensor mounted to the headband, headgear or helmet and configured to communicate and transmit alignment with a display comprising a second sensor mounted to the headband, headgear or helmet;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. According to claim 1,
the first sensor and the second sensor each comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU);
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. According to claim 1,
the display is a see-through head mounted display (HMD);
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 4. The method of claim 3,
the display is configured to present at least one of a symbol, an icon and an image to the user;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. According to claim 1,
further comprising a vehicle comprising an inertial navigation system (INS) or an IMU configured to communicate and transmit alignment with at least one of a first sensor and a second sensor mounted on a headband, headgear, or helmet;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. According to claim 1,
further comprising a second display comprising a third sensor configured to communicate and transfer alignment with at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 7. The method of claim 6,
further comprising a vehicle comprising an inertial navigation system (INS) or an IMU configured to communicate and transmit alignment with at least one of a first sensor and a second sensor mounted on a headband, headgear, or helmet;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 7. The method of claim 6,
wherein the first and second displays comprise a see through head mounted display (HMD) and are configured to present at least one of a symbol, an icon and an image on the first and second displays to a user in a binocular or biocular arrangement;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 7. The method of claim 6,
the second sensor and the third sensor compare the transmission alignment with the first sensor to determine when there is an error in the transmission alignment;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. According to claim 1,
wherein the vehicle is an aircraft, the reference constellation being mounted to the canopy of the aircraft for further alignment of the first sensor with respect to the aircraft;
A device for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. A method for automatic alignment of a component of a headband, headgear or helmet, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal from a first sensor mounted on the headband, headgear, or helmet;
receiving a second signal from a second sensor mounted on the headband, headgear, or helmet;
transfer aligning the first sensor with the second sensor based on the first signal and the second signal;
includes
the first sensor and the second sensor comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU);
A method for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 12. The method of claim 11,
The second sensor is mounted on the display,
A method for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 12. The method of claim 11,
the first sensor receives a third signal from an inertial navigation system (INS) of the vehicle;
aligning the passing of the INS and the first sensor;
A method for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet. 12. The method of claim 11,
wherein an additional sensor is mounted to the headband, headgear or helmet and provides an additional signal used to align the transmission to the first sensor;
A method for automatic alignment of components of a headband, headgear or helmet.

Images